The following is a transcript of a recent article posted on https://honey.nine.com.au/

An Australian woman living in Singapore has been left with horrific injuries after receiving lip filler injections.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she chose a “highly reputable aesthetician” in Singapore for the procedure.

“It went horribly wrong from the first prick of the needle,” she tells 9Honey.

“She hit blood vessels, which I was told was an accident, and an emergency doctor later said it should have been easily avoided with care and precision.”

She says the “look of horror” on the aesthetician’s face and the pain she felt made her realise something had gone horribly wrong.

“She did not numb the area, either, before beginning, which is standard practice),” she says.

“Still, she gave me an ice pack for the taxi trip home and at that time assured me the swelling was within normal range.

“She later admitted at the one-month check that she should have used a blunt canula instead of a needle, but still admitted no responsibility.”

The woman was left with severe haematomas with expanded and trapped blood in them, leaving her upper lip four times its original size.

“The filler got trapped instead of spreading out like it should,” she adds. “I was not able to talk, eat, drink without it dribbling down my face, or smile at my children.”

The woman was admitted into hospital where she was monitored for necrosis (tissue death). If this had occurred, the woman would have needed plastic surgery that would have severely altered her face.

“The aesthetician in question tried to blame this on my thin lips – isn’t that the reason people get lip fillers? – and said this is a very rare occurrence,” she explains.

“[But] if it were due to thin lips, then every thin-lipped person who gets lip fillers would have the same thing happen.”

The woman was left with lumps of filler in her lips for months.

“I was advised that filler lasts anywhere between six and 12 months,” she says.

“Once those lumps dissolved and the haematomas healed, it had only been three months and you could never tell I’d had fillers.”

Suffice to say the woman has decided to accept her thin lips, choosing to use lip liner to make them appear fuller.

“I’ll never have lip fillers again,” she says.

While the woman has considered taking legal action, she has been advised any legal claim for cosmetic procedures can only proceed if there is “permanent disfigurement”, otherwise the costs will likely far exceed the losses.

It took months for her lips to heal. (Supplied)

“I thought about simply writing a letter of demand to have costs refunded to me by the aesthetician. But given how stressful and debilitating the whole ordeal was, and that she continued to deny responsibility, I didn’t feel I had the energy for a confrontation,” she says.

“I counted my blessings that I was not permanently scarred or disfigured from this procedure and moved on from it.”

Following her ordeal, the woman advises anyone considering cosmetic procedures to ensure the provider explains all the risks.

“I knew there were risks, however the result I had from the fillers was NOT in any of the research I had done, and I specifically Googled for the worst outcome images on the web,” she says.

“Nothing I saw compared to what happened to my top lip.

“Also, be wary of a provider who is happy to rush you into the next room for the procedure immediately after a consultation. An ethical provider should give you more time and a new appointment before proceeding.

“With the excitement involved, I simply followed them into the next room and didn’t even question why they were not numbing the area before injecting.”

“When you have very thin lips though and want to subtly increase their volume, ask your doctor if they are using the correct needle for you size lips, ask about the potential of hitting blood vessels and be absolutely sure they are not hurried from being overbooked.”